Olympus E-510 with 14-42.Infinity focus?

<p>Both jpeg and raw.I use Olympus Master 2,but my first target is lens quality.I also have 40-150 kit lens,which resolves more lpm and seems better,but Planars and Sonnars are really top notch,if you are patient and shoot inside,usually tripod mounted and live view magnifying(although my Fotodiox adapter also refuses to focus Carl Zeiss T* lenses at infinity).<br>

This week I'm gonna send both(bought new in November 2008) camera and 14-42 to Portugal,because I'm tired of poor quality results,focusing problems especially in low light (which turns the screen in a B&W digital nonsense),lack of C-AF in most cases and camera shake,either in IS 1 or 2.<br>

I really don't feel proud of one single image I've made with this camera.<br>

Many thanks for your feedback</p><div></div>

<p>Photis,<br /> <br /> If you have not yet returned the camera and lenses, might I make one more recommendation.<br /> <br /> I noticed your post on November 24th at 2:21AM, the data for your test conditions is "A clear day SAF 14-42 F8 IS0100. Since there is no shutter speed indicated and judging by exposure I can only assume. Anyone following this thread, correct me if I am wrong, but the ideal settings for "A clear day" would be F16, Shutter-speed 125, ISO100.<br /> <br /> This prompted me to look at your second image in this posting and I noticed the exposure was off as well. I took the liberty and adjusted the image with GIMP Image Editor.<br /> <br /> First I corrected the exposure; then I corrected the brightness and contrast. This seemed to improve the sharpness of the image.<br /> <br /> Having worked in a photo lab, processing is extremely important to the final result. The first thing would be to check your colour profile. You can use the Adobe Gamma Wizard or if your budget permits, invest in a monitor colour profiler. Next, use the Adobe-RGB colour profile on the camera. In several articles I've read the Adobe-RGB colour profile is the recommended on the camera. If you do not have the Adobe Digital Negative Converter, I would recommend downloading it from Adobe.com.<br /> <br /> I hope this helps out my friend and Good Luck!</p><div></div>

<p>Al,thanks for your concern and being so helpful.<br>

All images I've uploaded in this forum are raw images(meaning no PS post treatment, just out-of-the-camera jpegs),posted on purpose just to illustrate what this camera and lens can achieve in terms of overall quality and focusing at infinity,and not to prove how good the photographer is,either in shooting or post processing.<br>

I use the Adobe sRGB on camera and Photoshop as well.<br>

Tripod and usually high speeds are selected when light permits and serious work has to be accomplished.<br>

The outfit with 14-42 was returned to the local Olympus dealer,40-150 remains at home,and if they won't do sth about it ,it'll be their mistake.<br>

It's just that I can't accept such low quality image making,after so many years of shooting on film and using high quality prime lenses,either with 135 or 120 sizes.<br>

Mail exchange with Japan hasn't proved fruitful so far,and I can do without this camera and lens,as long as it takes,because they just haven't gained my approval.<br>

As far as the image you've corrected is concerned,fact is that increasing the contrast and sharpening in such extent,except making the image look sharper and brighter,cannot really hide the equipment's shortcomings and defects, to the eyes of the experienced photographer.<br>

I'll sure let you know for whatever comes up.Many thanks.</p>

<p>Problems solved.False in-camera AF.</p>

<p>

 

<p>Photis,</p>

<p>Are you happy with your results now? My 510 is having similar problems. I seem to get clear images at the telephoto end when the objects are close (almost macro), but even that is inconsistent. But doing even family photos, etc using the kit lens is blurred. When i say blurred, I mean slightly out of focus. Enough so to make you upset because the framing is right, the color is great, but the focus is lagging a smidge. Your picture of the valley and mountain range in the background is similar - somethings appear to be a bit focused, while the rest is blurred. I have tried different zooms, shutter priority, aperture priority (different F stops), and full auto - it doesn't seem to matter.</p>

<p>I rely pretty heavily on the AF because of the small viewfinder. If i am doing macro type pictures i normally use manual focus since the object is so close and i can easily see all the detail in the frame. The further the objects are away, the harder it is to see the detail in the viewfinder even when squinting your eye (plus i have glasses). The AF actually stopped working for a short period of time. I was attempting to capture my dog in action while using CAF, then all of a sudden the AF just stopped altogether, had to turn off/on for it to begin to work again. After doing some research i found that maybe the 510 won't be the best at capturing action and attributed my blurry running dog pictures from panning. But i recent was just doing some family pictures and came across the same problem...</p>

<p>I have two things going for me right now. A Friend of mine is letting me borrow the olympus ED 14-45 mm lens with the larger aperture F stop. He seems to think the problem may be with the Lens. He said that, in conjunction with a faster AF mechanism in this better lens, and a wider aperture, the AF should be much better. So i will be able to test if the problem is with the lens or the camera based on the image results. Additionally i have a full service/replacement plan with my retailer. But they said it'd be 6-8 weeks before i got the camera back - so much for replacement...and there goes late spring early summer w/o my camera. How long did you go without your camera until they returned it?</p>

<p>I am just an amateur photographer who recently got into photography and is in search of sharp, clean pictures. The 510 seems to be quite capable of the things i am attempting to do, but i just can't seem to get the focus correct.</p>

<p>Thanks,</p>

<p>B</p>

 

</p>

<p>Brian.<br>

Sorry for being so late.After fixing the AF(this took around a month,meanwhile I was given a replacement body)the camera never stopped making pictures,but the quality is not what you can get from other brands of APS-C size,or a full frame,no matter which lens you use.I strongly believe that the limitation is the small 4/3rds sensor.As far as your focusing problems are concerned,I recommend you have your gear serviced,because I'm sure they can fix the AF problem,so you'll get the most out of your camera.The quality differences between lenses are minor if the AF is not carefully calibrated.Anyway,I don't think 14-45 is better than 14-42 and worth trying.I've made images with 14-54 which is a little better,but it's impossible to exceed 2000lines,no matter which lens you use.The best is 50/2.0 macro,but for those who really need it.<br>

My piece of advice is to set Sharpness to -2 and turn noise filter to OFF.That way picture resolution seems much better than with factory settings.Leave noise reduction to ON as this is useful for low light conditions.Reduce exposure by at least 0,3(to avoid highlight clipping,which seems inevitable with this camera).Do not use ISO 800-1600,as picture quality becomes worse because of noise.<br>

Thank you for your time spent here.</p>

<p>Photis - dpreview also mentions setting sharpness to -2 on the e-510 camera to get the best results - why is this?</p>

<p>Brian.<br /> It's about circuitry,LiveMOS sensor and default factory settings.I quote dpreview:</p>

<h4>"Noise Filter</h4>

<p>As already discussed turning off the camera's Noise Filter option can deliver more detail, although obviously at the expense of more visible noise, especially from ISO 400 up. We also noted that the default sharpening level appears to be designed to recover some of the sharpness lost by the Noise Filter but that baseline of sharpness doesn't decrease in line with the Noise Filter setting, hence you need to reduce sharpness if you turn down the Noise Filter."<br /> So try this combination and you may see quite a difference when enlarging full size.I do this from the very beggining,because trial and error had conviced me that their test results are true for my camera as well.<br /> Hope you achieve better quality once you have this combination set,and the only problem you can face in image quality could be when noise shows its ugly face at higher ISO.<br /> Best regards.</p><div></div>